Ministry Clarifies Misinformation on 60,000 Prospective Students Withdrawing

The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemendiktisaintek) has clarified misleading information circulating among the public regarding 60,000 prospective new students who were said to have withdrawn or not re-registered in this year’s selection process. Director of Learning and Student Affairs (Belmawa) at Kemendiktisaintek, Beny Bandanadjaja, stressed that the narrative of 60,000 students withdrawing in 2026 is incorrect, given that the independent admissions process for new students this year is still ongoing until the final deadline of 31 July 2026. He underlined that the widely discussed figure of 60,000 actually refers to the presentation of 2025 evaluation data delivered by the National Selection Committee for New Student Admissions during a Hearing Meeting (RDP) with the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI). Beny detailed that out of a total national capacity of 627,000 seats in 2025, 585,000 individuals were successfully accepted through the selection process. The shortfall of around 40,000 empty seats was purely due to the non-fulfilment of capacity because participants did not meet the minimum quality standards, not because they withdrew. ‘Of those 585,000, it is true that some did not re-register. If we calculate the 2025 data, it was around 17,000 or about 2.8 per cent of those accepted,’ said Beny. Based on the selection committee’s investigation, Beny revealed three main reasons why these thousands of prospective students ultimately chose not to re-register. The first reason is a mismatch of study programmes. Test selection participants are allowed to choose up to five study programmes, and they often withdraw because they were accepted into their second, third, or subsequent choices, which were not their main priority. The second reason, Beny continued, is that many participants also took part in the selection process for government service academies under other ministries. The appeal of a service bond and guaranteed employment upon graduation leads many prospective students to give up their seats at public universities. Meanwhile, the third reason relates to financial constraints, where a number of applicants for the Kartu Indonesia Pintar (KIP) Kuliah programme were declared ineligible, forcing them to withdraw while seeking alternative funding or scholarships from other parties. ‘Therefore, they may ultimately be unable to continue, because they do not re-register due to financing issues as well, because typically those who register for KIP Kuliah certainly have financial shortcomings. So when they are not eligible, they certainly cannot proceed,’ concluded Beny.